Good-bye Ripostena Country House

Our time in the country is coming to a close but it has been the most enjoyable 3 days here at Ripostena.  While we were disappointed that the infinity pool wasn't heated (and in fact was FREEZING cold!) we found lots of time and places to walk and explore and to even sit among the olive groves to watch the beautiful sunset each day.

Our days consisted of walking, reading, card games, the odd glass of wine, good meals and soaking in the sunlight while looking over the hills.  The house is one of those amazing stone structures with wooden beams, original windows, terra cotta floors and sits high above the Elsa Valley.

We head to the airport in Pisa tomorrow to catch our flight to Puglia on the east coast.  We are looking forward to our last week here, spent mostly at the beach in the towns of Martina Franca and Polignano A Mare.

We enjoyed the opportunity to explore this area, especially the ruins which can be found nearby.  Our daily walks included many ups and downs, herds of pigs, an abandoned marble quarry and views of the hills below that went on forever.  The light each evening across the valley lit up the UNESCO Heritage site of San Gimignano across the way, a place that we had really enjoyed visiting on our way here.  Another  beautiful place in the world that we are feeling blessed to be able to visit.  

Ciao Ripostena!

Ripostena Country House

Today was a travel day for us.  Out of city (Siena) to the hills, olive groves and vineyards WAY out in the country.  While I have really enjoyed our time in Siena I am ready for the peace and quiet of the country.  We hooked up the GPS, Bob took the navigator's seat and Randy the wheel and off we went.

Along the way we stopped at the UNESCO heritage site of San Gimignano.  At one time there were 72 towers in this town and today 14 remain.  The towers were built to show the economic and political power of the two ruling families of the day but in 1255 the 'town council' ruled no more towers were to be built.  As with many other hilltop fortresses the views were stunning and the architecture amazing.  Narrow alley ways and beautiful barred windows with flowers were everywhere.  What caught our eye (and ears) were the artists around every corner.  The young man pictured below was playing and the music filled every crevice of the piazza around him and beyond. We bought a CD and look forward to playing it when we get home to remind us of our time here.

We have had a bit of pizza since arriving but the pizza we bought in San Gimignano has been the BEST!  We waited in a long line (always a sign of good food) at a little takeout and sat on a stone step in the narrow streets enjoying the fresh taste of tomato and the crispy thin crust.  It was GOOD!

As we are heading into the countryside where there are no stores we stopped in the little village of Colle di Val D'elsa to pick up enough groceries for our three days at Ripostena Country House. The drive there was beautiful along narrow winding up and down roads through a canopy of trees.  WE saw many old stone ruins and many larger stone estates along the way and the last bumpy, steep hill took us to our next stop.

Casa Vecchia means "old house" and #8 will be our home for the next few days.  There are several stone houses on the property and all them were occupied when we arrived.  The old farm from the 1300'swas restored in the 1980's and they have done a terrific job of leaving the terra cotta floors and wooden beamed ceilings intact.  

There is a lovely infinity pool here and the weather was nice so Bob headed straight for the pool.  The water was not heated and I am sad to say I was the only one who didn't take a dip (very unusual for me!).  We sauntered the grounds while we waited for dinner.  We all agree that eating a four course meal at 8:00 in the evening is not sitting well with us.  However, the dinner last night was amazing.  From the fresh bruschetta, the AMAZING carbonara spaghetti, the juicy and tender roast beef, the peas cooked with herbs and garlic to the bottle of wine and the almond biscotti.  We stumbled home and fell into bed spending the night digesting both the beauty of the place and that amazing meal.  A lot of reading, a bit of picture-taking and the most amazing sunset left us all feeling relaxed and grateful.

Buono notte!

An Evening in the Vineyards

It was a lazy last day in Siena for me.  Bob and Sherri and Randy walked into the old town again but I was happy to sit in the light of the balcony at our place and read a really good book, "Where the Crawdad's Sing".  In the early evening we all walked back down to La Lizza plaza to catch a shuttle to our evening wine tour and dinner amongst the vineyards.  On the way to the vineyard we stopped at the small hilltop village of Monteriggione where we enjoyed a stroll as the sun went down.

Every one of these mountain top fortresses have been beautiful in their own way and Monteriggione was no different.  It looks out over the Siena hills covered in vineyards and olive groves and was amazing as the sun set over the hills.  Back in the van to head out into the country and up a winding, bumpy road to the Poggio Amorelli vineyard, a small, private vineyard that started in 2011.  We had a tour of the working area before heading into the vineyard itself for a long table dinner and wine tasting.

  

It was a multi-course dinner with a different wine served with each course.  I am not a knowledgeable wine-drinker but enjoyed 3 or 4 or the ones served, partly because of the food that came with it.  We started with a prosecco-like wine before dinner, had some amazing bread with olive oil and 12 year old balsamic vinegar (to be honest, I was more impressed with the vinegar than the wine).  On to a really nice rose wine (which I bought a bottle of) and then a very tasty dish of olive oil/tomatoes/basil/bread crushed into a mushy (but VERY tasty) texture.  More wine and some amazing Pecorino cheese with the balsamic drizzled over it then onto classic bruschetta and a different wine.  Of course next we had pasta, with more wine followed by three types of pork (chops/sausage/ribs) and more wine.  Lastly came the shot glass of a bourbon like wine and biscotti to dip into it.  We have had some trouble sleeping on this trip but with such a large meal, a LOT of wine and all after 8:00, we headed home and went straight to bed.  It was a beautiful evening in the Tuscan hillsides!

A Drive Into the Countryside

We visited the Siena market this morning and this afternoon we hopped into the car to get out of the city into the rolling hills of Tuscany.  With Randy driving and Bob navigating we made our way out of Siena and headed to the little town of Buonconvento.  We weren't sure what to expect and really enjoyed our time in this very small but incredibly beautiful little town, about 40 minutes from Siena.

It was made up of two streets with a few connecting alleyways like the one above.  The town was so clean and in such great shape.  There were flowers, bikes and colours galore around every corner.  It didn't take us long to look around and to enjoy our daily gelato.

From Buonconvento we drove south to the hilltop, walled village of Montalcino.  This was a much more typical Siena village with the walled city, an old fort area, the town square and a church.  It was also typical in that it was quite a walk up and down the streets.  Montalcino was in their 'afternoon siesta' mode so many shops, other than the numerous wine shops, were closed for their afternoon break.  We started at the fort and the views were amazing.

This was from the parapet surrounding the fort.  We had to pay 4 euros to go through the wine shop up onto the roof and this was what we saw from the top.  The other pics below are all taken from the fort as well.

We picked up dinner from a nearby deli and enjoyed pasta, salad, fresh bread and the ever-present olive oil, balsamic and red wine.  An evening of cards and dice and it's early to bed after a busy day.

Buona notte!

Day 10 in Italy - Siena Market

We had heard of the Siena Wednesday market before we got here and were told it was a 'can't miss' experience.  Thank you to whoever it was that told us that!  We headed down to the old town and found the market and it went on and on and on and on.  I can't begin to guess at how many blocks were taken up by the sights and sounds of this very local market.  The prices were great for everything - too bad we had no room in our backpacks for shoes, purses, clothing of all sorts, meat, cheese, fish, umbrellas and all kinds of odds and ends.  What I will remember about the market though is the people.  It seems that the market is a gathering place and we watched many groups of men and women chatting away, hands flying left and right and that musical language rolling off their tongues.  It was great to just sit back and watch.

 

The other part of the market that was great was the food section.  Like in Portugal, there are many types of fish and other sea creatures that we wouldn't begin to think about eating.  People were lined up though picking their way through salted fish, slimy octopus, freaky looking crayfish with their eyeballs pointed in our direction and a couple of pigs for balance. We did taste a very yummy slice of ham from the beautiful lady in the yellow vest.  She sold us on a focaccia sandwich with some of that ham and some very creamy, tasty cheese.  It was delish!

 

If you are ever in Siena on a Wednesday, this is the pace to be!